


Not what I expected

by DawnWave



Series: Not what I Expected [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Crime Scenes, Designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Gen, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Mentions of Suicide, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tired Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Uncle Jagged Stone (Miraculous Ladybug), minor gore, supportive parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21610240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnWave/pseuds/DawnWave
Summary: The BAU:IRT is in Paris and find something no one expected.  Is this the help Ladybug needs?
Series: Not what I Expected [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560238
Comments: 61
Kudos: 395





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is my first fic so don't know how far this will go. Please leave constructive criticism if it's needed. I know my grammar isn't great but please bear with me as my brain goes faster than my fingers!  
> This takes place during CM: BB episode 5 “ The Lonely Heart”

The case just didn't make any sense what so ever. First, the eyes were mutilated, then the head was removed. What was the connection and what were they missing? Matt Simmons was sitting in the park near a school trying to clear his head as he asked himself those questions. In the distance, he could see a man feeding the pigeons and a policeman arguing with someone over a parking ticket. He closed his eyes trying to keep himself focused, forehead resting in his hands and his elbows on his knees.

“Sir?” He looked up again at the sound of a soft feminine voice. “Are you alright?” the voice continued. 

Matt sighed. “I'm alright, just trying to figure out the answers to something,” he replied then looked at the person talking to him. She was fair-skinned with ravens wing black hair that shone blue in the sunlight. Her eyes were a vivid blue, yet somehow, strikingly familiar, and she had freckles on her nose. If he had to guess her age he'd have said she was possibly 15 at most. 

“ If you stuck on a question and don't have all the answers, why don't you think of something different for a while? I find that always helps me when I'm trying to design and can't quite get it to look right.”

“What do you suggest I think about then?” Matt asked with a smile.

“Well, I heard your stomach grumble so maybe you should think about some food? Or you could think about something you know will make you happy.” It was at this moment a scream was heard. Matt was instantly searching for the source of the scream. “Oh, not again!” The girl seemed almost exasperated and he was struck by how familiar it seemed. She looked at him calmly and said: “Head to the bakery that's behind you, tell the woman at the counter that Marinette sent you and she should help you.”

“Wait I could-” 

She cut him off before he could continue, “No offence but you'll only be in Ladybug and Chat Noir's way if you try help out. I'm going to try to keep Alya from getting killed, not that she'll listen to me anyway!” The last part was said in a disgusted mutter and Matt made a mental note to ask her about it. It would have to be later though as she had already disappeared from sight.

Matt shrugged, he might as well do as the girl said. Marinette, she said her name was Marinette. Even as he walked to the bakery his mind lingered on how familiar she seemed, yet he knew he had never met her before. As he entered the bakery he was hit was the mouth-watering scent of fresh bread and pastries. 

“Welcome to Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, I'm Sabine Cheng, please feel free to look around and if you have any questions or would like to place an order I'll be with you as soon as I can!” The voice was cheerful yet edged with exhaustion and came from a small woman who looked very similar to Marinette.

Must be her mother, he thought. He was quiet for a second then said “I was sent here by Marinette when the screaming started. She said you could explain it to me as she was going to try to stop a friend of hers from getting hurt.” 

“Oh! It's just an Akuma attack, we have them quite regularly these days, unfortunately.” She then told him everything that she could about the attacks and how they were handled. At one stage Jack Garret called to get an update and Matt explained where he was and that he would give a full debrief when he got back to the station. Suddenly, a swarm of red ladybugs seemed to fly through the air and Matt watched as everyone instantly relaxed again. Sabine smiled, “Looks like Ladybug and Chat Noir won again, I hope they didn't have too much trouble!”

Before Matt could ask what she meant Marinette walked through the door. Her hair was messy and she seemed to be trying to hide her face, her eyes downcast. 

“Marinette?” Sabine asked softly. Marinette looked up, a bright red handprint was visible on the face and it was slightly swollen. “What happened?” Sabine hurried over to her daughter and looked at her closely. “Who hit you?” Marinette sighed 

“Alya did, Maman, Lila told her that I was trying to make Nino cheat on her and Alya just took off. She refused to listen to me when I said it wasn't true!” 

Matt frowned, “Does Lila often do this type of thing? You seem resigned about how this has happened.” 

Sabine looked at Marinette and seemed to come to a decision. “Let me close up the shop and we can head upstairs to talk about this.” Marinette seemed about to protest so Matt spoke up. 

“I'm with law enforcement so maybe I can help come up with solutions with you. You have helped me today so please, let me help you.” Marinette pouted, then winced as it pulled her skin. 

“Ok, I guess I need to put ice on this too.”

Sabine walked to the door and flipped the sign then led the way upstairs.

“Where do you want me to start?” Marinette said warily, her eyes closed. She held an icepack wrapped in a thin towel lightly against the throbbing handprint on her face.

Sabine looked at Matt and seemed to come to a decision.

“While your papa and I know most of this it might be best for you to start at the beginning so that SSA Simmions can get a clear idea of everything that has happened. He might be able to see something that could help.”

Marinette kept her eyes closed but nodded in understanding.

“It all started with a new girl joining our class...” Marinette then told Matt everything that had happened since Lila had joined her class. She spoke about Mr Agreste's book and how Lila had stolen it, she spoke about the fact that she had been threatened in the bathroom and her near Akumatisation. She spoke about how her teacher kept saying she had to set an example for the rest of her class. As she spoke she seemed to almost fold into herself as she fought to keep herself from falling apart.

Matt was stunned as he listened. Here was a girl whole had gone out of her way to help him, a stranger, who did all she could to help everyone she could and yet this was the nightmare that she was living with. He wondered how she hadn't snapped yet, after all, he'd delt with unsubs who had snapped after far less. He also couldn't help but see his sons in her place and had to fight to stop himself from getting angry on her behalf. All the while he kept thinking that she reminded him of someone, he just wished he knew who it was. Then she said something that had him snapping to attention.

“Wait did you just say she claimed to be related to David Rossi, the author?”

“Yes, it's one of the few names I didn't recognise to I don't know if she is lying about that one or not. They have the same surname but that doesn't mean anything and to be honest, she could be lying about her name and none of us would know.”

“I can make some calls to check but I'm pretty sure Dave only has a grandson and no granddaughters, certainly none that would be your age.” He was about to say more but at that moment his phone went off. It was Clara saying that Jack was getting annoyed with how long he had been away and that they had a lead.

“You have to go don't you?” Marinette's voice was slightly hoarse from talking so much.

“Unfortunately yes but I would like to keep in contact and see what I can do to help.”

“Well then,” Sabine spoke up from the kitchen “You and your team are welcome to come round for a meal or even coffee to help relax before you fly home. I won't take no for an answer, either.”

“I'll tell the team. In the meantime here is my card and if I can get your number I'll call as soon as I can, either with ideas to help Marinette or when we are done.” Matt smiled slightly then he looked at Marinette. “As for you little lady, I will get hold of David to double-check about his family and do a bit of research to see what I can find.”

“You don't have to-” Marinette started.

“How could I not? I have children of my own and if they were in your situation I would do all I could to help them, just as your parents have done. I just happen to have more resources at my disposal,” he said with a wink.

Marinette smiled her first true smile of the afternoon as far as Matt could see, then nodded.

“Ok, then Agent Simmons.”

“Call me Matt.” He smiled, “I'll see you soon.”

As he left he thought over what he had heard. He also thought about why some of the things she did as well as her eyes seemed familiar. It was only as he scrolled through his list of contacts to find Garcia's name and saw one in particular that he realised why that was. Her eyes had the same tired quality as most BAU agents he knew but even without that, he should have recognised them. After all one of his contacts had the same eyes, identical in colour, shape and depth. Aaron Hotchner. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had meant to bring Mari back in in this chapter but it was getting to long so I split it. Sorry. Next chapter hopefuly!

_After all one of his contacts had the same eyes, identical in colour, shape and depth. Aaron Hotchner._

A little known fact about Aaron Hotchner or “Hotch” as he was known to most people was that he had blue eyes. You might think it should be obvious but Hotch had decided early in his career at the FBI that to better protect those he cared about he would wear brown contacts. Only those that worked closely with him or had been around him at work parties knew his eyes were a clear azure blue. Matt was one of those that fell into that category.

“Hey, what is it that has you so distracted? You've been out of it since you went out for that walk. Weren't you trying to clear your head?” Mae was only trying to tease Matt but stopped seeing that he truly wasn't listening to her. She clicked her fingers in front of his face. Matt blinked.

“Did you say something?” he asked, still trying to get his head back in the game.

“Yeah, look are you alright?”

“I need to talk to everyone as soon as this case is done and before we even think of leaving for home.”

“Alright then.” Mae shook her head in confusion. “In the meantime can we get back to the case?”

The evening quickly faded into night and yet another body was found. By the time they made the connections and had a solid lead on a suspect they had a fourth victim and they all felt they were running out of time. When Clara made the connection about it being about love it seemed to trigger a landslide of good news and lucky breaks. The butterflies from the stomach of the fourth victim were linked back to a Butterfly House, which had lead to them finally getting the break they needed and enabled them to finally catch the unsub. It seemed like everyone was glad that the case had finally resolved itself.

As they were making sure they had all their things together, Matt spoke up.

“As you've probably all noticed I've been slightly distracted since I went for my walk to clear my head. Anyway, there is a good reason for that.”

“Oh?” Clara asked, “You sounded surprised when I called you to ask where you were, it was as though you'd lost track of time.”

“I had” Matt admitted. “I was sitting in the park when I heard screaming, I went to get up to go investigate but a local teen, Marinette, advised me not to and sent me to her parents' bakery to make sure I was safe. She said it was an Akuma attack and that her mom would explain what that meant.” Before he team could ask Commissaire Clement, walked in.

“Did you just say that you were near an Akuma attack? Were you hit or affected in any way? We try to keep track of them all so I'm guessing the attack you referring to was the one in the 21st arrondissement.”

“Yes, I was near it but as I've just said to my team I was sent to a bakery to seek shelter and the woman who runs it, Sabine explained what was going on. How did you know that it was the one in that area? Are they not all that common?”

“It's a fairly common area for them as the high school, Collège Françoise Dupont, is across the road from both Tom & Sabine's and the park. The attacks are fairly common but the only other attack we've had has been “Mr Pigeon” who is a regular one and that one as become so common we bearly noticed it anymore.” Commissaire Clement explained. He seemed almost resigned about the attacks. “We are working with Ladybug to try track down Hawkmoth but so far we seem to be hitting a dead end.”

“Wait, back up a bit,” Jack said, his voice telling everyone he meant business. “What are Akumas? Are you using some kind of code so that no-one can understand you?” Matt and Commissaire Clement glanced at each other, sighed and gestured for the team to sit back down.

They then explained what was going on in Paris to the team. Clement even added information that Matt hadn't known, such as the fact that they had an active trace for Akuma butterflies running through all police cameras around the city. They even had a database of victims and flags got raised if the same person got hit more then twice, outside of mass events like Hero's Day and Miricle Queen.

Soon after explaining as much as he could Commissaire Clement was called away leaving the team to think about what they had been told. Since none of the team was making a move to leave now and they hadn't been kicked out of the room, Matt decided to contact Monty. As usual, he answered promptly though he did seem a little confused.

“Hey Matt, I thought the case was finished and that you would be on your way back. What's with the call?”

“Hey Monty is it possible for you to see if Garcia and Hotch are around?” Jack and the rest of the team instantly looked at Matt.

“If you going to drop another bomb on us can you at least give us some warning?” Mae didn't sound happy as she growled at him.

“I don't know if it is a bomb I'll be dropping. I have a suspicion but no proof and don't want to make a mess by speaking out of turn. The only reason I'm even doing this with everyone here is the person it concerns may need our help.”

“Our help with what?” Hotch had just been linked into the video chat as Matt spoke and he seemed just as confused as everyone else.

“Hi Hotch, I'm probably going to seem like an insensitive idiot for asking this especially around so many people but I have to ask, did you at any stage know a woman named Sabine Cheng?” Matt was nervous as he asked this but he didn't know how else to explain the similarities he had seen in Marinette. Hotch took a minute to reply but when he did it was clear he had never expected to hear her name ever again.

“I did meet a woman with that name, but it was about 16 years ago. I remember she and her husband met Haley and me at a bar one evening. We were in Las Vegas as Sabine's family didn't approve of Tom at all and had some political clout in Paris where they lived. They'd come out to Vegas to get married and have a quick honeymoon before heading home to open a bakery. I don't remember much of that evening as the four of us hit it off pretty well and went drinking together. We all woke up in the same bed but with no idea of how we got there. There wasn't any indication of anything other than sleeping happening so we just shrugged it off, went for breakfast and then went our separate ways. We didn't exchange numbers or anything so there has been no further communication between us. Why do you ask?”

Matt closed his eyes then took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as he could. “Garcia please pull up a photo of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Okay,” Garcia's reply was extremely confused but she was used to weird requests. Monty was doing the same thing and Matt knew the second her picture was shown. Hotch let out a choked gasp, Garcia and Monty seemed stunned and once Monty had sent the image to the rest of the team their reaction was equally telling.

“Oh, my” Clara and Mae seemed to murmur in unison, while Jack groaned softly for once grateful that they didn't have to book any flights and that they had their private jet.

“Now I know nothing is confirmed but I think you can all see why I needed to ask if you knew her. I think we should confirm if she is your daughter with a DNA test but I thought you should see why I wanted to talk to you first.” Matt tried not to shock anyone further, understanding that they needed time to process what they had seen.

“How old is she?” Hotch's voice was soft as he asked.

Garcia was the one who answered, though her voice was equally soft, “She's just turned 15 Hotch, I'll send a request to the labs to run a paternity test to confirm it but it seems like you have a teenage daughter.”

“Well,” Hotch said looking up at the IRT through the video chat, “Is there anything else I should know about before I meet her?”

Matt just sighed knowing it was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

_ Matt just sighed knowing it was going to be a long day. _

The day had started relatively well for Hotch. He'd woken up early enough to get breakfast for Jack and himself sorted out, double-checked Jack's homework as he hadn't done it the night before and he had even managed to drive Jack to school without stressing about a case as he'd cleared the last of his case files the previous day so he was glad he could go into a new case without worrying about any backlog. He was smiling as he walked into work only to be called over by Garcia. 

“Hey Hotch, the IRT is on a video conference call and they want to speak to you.”

Garcia looked just as confused as he felt but dutifully he turned and walked towards Monty's office as he knew that's where the call would be. He got to his destination just in time to hear the tail end of Mae's question to Matt and his reply of  _ “I don't know if it is a bomb I'll be dropping. I have a suspicion but no proof and don't want to make a mess by speaking out of turn. The only reason I'm even doing this with everyone here is the person it concerns may need our help.” _

“Our help with what?” Hotch was beyond confused. This clearly wasn't about a case yet Matt seemed to think that the two of them were needed for a consult. It just didn't make sense. When Matt asked the question about knowing Sabine it took him by surprise but he guessed that Matt had bumped into her and she had mentioned him. The last thing he expected was for Matt to get Garcia to pull up a picture of a teenaged girl nor for her to have his eyes when he wasn't wearing his contacts at least. The IRT had heard his gasp despite him trying not to and their reactions were just as surprised. Thankfully Garcia was quick to send the request for a DNA test off though he was pretty sure he knew that the results would come back confirming that she is his daughter.

He was quiet for a moment before looking up at the international team. Matt seemed like he didn't like what he was about to say but that he knew that he needed to say it anyway. Hotch decided to give Matt the opening he needed so he asked 

“ _ Well, is there anything else I should know about before I meet her?” _

By the look on Matt's face, he knew wasn't going to like the answer and he was right. Matt started by explaining about the Akuma attacks that were happening in Paris and how the police were handling it. He also told them about how the Mayor seems to be trying to not let the news of the attacks get out, after all, they hadn't known about them when they went in for their case. He then went on to explain how he had met Marinette and Sabine and the dinner invite. Hotch watched Matt's face and could see that there was something more to the story.  _ A hazard of being a profiler _ he thought,  _ we can't help but pick up on things left unsaid. _

“Matt?” Hotch queried when it seemed like Matt was hesitating about continuing his story. “There's something else isn't there? About Marinette?”

Matt nodded sadly then spoke “You might want to get the rest of your team here to and move this chat to your conference room. What I'm about to say will require both Garcia and Monty to do some digging as well as Rossi as it will affect him too.”

Hotch was frowning, it seemed like the news kept coming. He had been at work for 2 hours already and he had yet to even step foot in his office, his world had been turned on its head with news about a daughter he hadn't known about and there was still another hit coming? He nodded, took a deep breath and nodded at Garcia, turning on his heel he went through to his teams' main office and told them to head to their briefing room saying that Garcia would join them shortly. They were understandably confused but Hotch simply held up his hand and turned back to the call that was now pulled up on the screen.

“Go ahead Matt, we're all here.”

“Alright,” Matt started. “Before I get started I have to ask Rossi something.”

Hotch groaned, “Please don't tell me he's in the same situation here as I am!”

Matt just smiled. “As far as I am aware, he's not. However, I do have to confirm a couple of facts to be on the safe side.”

Hotch nodded and sat back as Matt confirmed that Rossi didn't have any other grandchildren other than his grandson. He'd checked after the surprise about his daughter had been brought to his attention. Once that was sorted out Matt gave a brief overview of their discovery of Marinette and her to be confirmed relationship to Hotch. Garcia had chipped in by pulling up photo's of Marinette and saying that the rush she had put on the paternity test should give results in roughly 2hrs as she had told them to compare DNA profiles that were already available so that it wouldn't take the standard 3-5 days before they got results.

Hotch nodded to her in thanks before looking to Matt, who sighed knowing he had put off the next bit of news for as long as he could. Matt slowly started to tell them about what he had been told when Marinette had gotten back to the bakery after the Akuma attack. He told them everything Marinette had told him giving as much detail as he could. He'd made notes for himself in the quiet moments during the case just to make sure that he didn't forget anything. 

By the time he was halfway through Garcia had her computer in front of her as well as JJ's pulling up everything she could on Lila Rossi, her mother and Alya Césaire. Rossi was fuming about a girl he'd never heard of claiming to be related to him, to the point where he simply held up a hand to get Matt to pause in his tale.

When he did Rossi turned to the team, “Any objections to me going to Cruz and getting us all emergency time off so that we can head to Paris? I know we won't be able to use our usual jet but I don't mind covering the cost of our tickets so that we can get there ASAP, I'm sure we can organise transport back and accommodation once we know how long we will be there. Hotch I know you probably feel that all of us going is unnecessary but this girl is trying to destroy your daughters' life. I'm sure the rest of the team will agree with me when I say we are family and that means despite never meeting her, we should do all we can to protect her.”

Hotch was touched but not surprised by Rossi's speech and when the team nodded in agreement all he could do was agree. Once Rossi was out the door Hotch looked at his team then at Matt and smiled gratefully.

“Thanks, everyone for your support, Matt can you please tell us the rest so that we can start planning how we want to deal with this on the plan. Garcia if you could please send all the info you have to our tablets and since I'm guessing you want to come with us I'm guessing you'll need to pack unless you have also started to keep a go-bag ready. Monty, do you mind being our go-to if we need anything done on this side of the world while we are in Paris?”

Getting Monty's agreement and an all-clear from Rossi who had walked back in with Cruz on his heels, Hotch got Matt to finish giving them all the information he had. The team then looked at each other but only JJ vocalised what they were all thinking.

“We've had unsubs with less of a stress load then what Marinette has.” She then continued with something none of them wanted to even contemplate, “Judging from what we've heard of Lila's stories, even second or third hand as they are now, I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up as an unsub in the future. Heck, who's to say she isn't one already without even having to use violence? Words used in the right way in this day and age of technology could easily spread fast and escalate thus driving her victims to kill themselves. This all sounds a little too practised for Marinette to be her first victim.”

The team shuddered slightly at the thought.

“Right well flights are booked so let's get our gear and go. We are booked for the 1 pm flight which is scheduled to take 7.5hrs so we'd better get going now if we don't want to miss it. I've managed to book us in first class and all clustered together so we can talk more on the way. I've organised it so we will have internet access on the flight.” Rossi was seemingly calm as he said all this but the team could tell he was the same combination of worried and angry as the rest of them. “JJ, I took the liberty of calling Will so that he knows what's going on, he wishes us all the best. Hotch, Jack has been booked to come with us, so I've called his school to excuse him and I recommend you head home to get his things together.”

Hotch smiled properly for the first time since that morning. He couldn't begin to express his thanks so he didn't try, he could see Rossi understood though. The team looked at each other and nodded then started to head for the door. As they did so they heard a ding from Garcia's computer so they looked at her.

“It's confirmed,” she said with a soft smile, then looked at Hotch. “Congrats, Dad, it's a teenaged girl!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't kill me, I looked up shortest flight times and the time difference to try to make this chapter seem a bit more centred in reality! Hopefully, Mari and the rest show up in the next chapter, but as I have no idea where the muse will take me I can't guarantee anything :)


	4. Chapter 4

_ “ _ _ It's confirmed,” she said with a soft smile, then looked at Hotch. “Congrats, Dad, it's a teenaged girl!” _

Hotch was driving home to pack extra things into his bag when he realised that he should probably fetch Jack first. After all, if he remembered correctly, Jack was meant to be having an art day at school and the last thing he wanted to do was take Jack on a plane covered in paint and other art supplies. He had requested that Garcia book accommodation for them as the last thing he wanted was to arrive in Paris and find out the was nowhere for them all to stay, so he knew they would be staying in the Grand Paris Hotel, they would pay for their rooms after they arrived though.

That planned he picked up a very messy, yet excited Jack and got everything else that he needed done sorted and met the team at the airport. He was admittedly a bit nervous, after all, he'd just found out he had a teenage daughter and he had no idea if she knew that Tom wasn't her father. The team boarded without any issues and settled in for the flight. Since D.C was 6hrs behind Paris, despite them leaving at 1 pm they would be landing in Paris at 6 pm.

They had been on the plane for about an hour when Reid, who had been quiet for the most part, spoke up.

“I think we should look into Marinette's teacher as well as the two girls Matt mentioned.” Seeing the confused looks he continued, “While it may be possible that the teacher hasn't noticed what is happening with Marinette. If we go by what Matt said about how she seemed relieved that an adult other than her parents believed her, I think we can deduce that the school hasn't supported her. I read through the records about her that Garcia was able to get and her school file indicates that she has almost been expelled a few times since Miss Rossi joined the class. I find that strange because before that she had an almost spotless record there is even a note stating that she is generally quiet but will stand up to bullies. If you then take Frances' policy of emphasising the teacher's authority and how much they stress analytical thinking, it paints a picture of either a weak-willed teacher or one that just doesn't care.”

“I see where you going with this Pretty Boy, you think that the teacher has seen everything that Marinette is going through but instead of trying to help her, she's making Marinette lock away her natural reaction of standing up for herself in favour of trying to maintain the status quo. Marinette has probably tried to speak to her teacher but been told to simply keep quiet, which has then lead to her classmates thinking that she's been reprimanded and that what they are doing is the right thing.” Morgan sounded contemplative as he spoke.

“I could see that happening if the teacher wasn't very experienced with teens or perhaps was better suited to teaching much younger children.” This time it was Prentiss that spoke up. “Garcia can you-”

“Already ahead of you there. Records sent to your tablets but to summerise what I have found this is Caline Bustier's first teaching position, she applied to only teach art as she wanted to gain a bit more experience before teaching full classes. She has a history through her school career of fading into the background whenever there was any conflict near her. Ironically enough she was always found at the scene of a fight but never seen to be directly involved.” Garcia's fingers were flying over the keys of her laptop even as she gave her brief report.

JJ frowned, “Do you guys think she could have instigated those fights only to step back as the fight got bigger? I don't think I'd want to let her near my kids if that was the case.”

“That's presuming the parents knew about her history in the first place,” Reid interjected.

By this stage, Hotch was glad he had had the forethought to pack a tablet with games and movies along with headphones for Jack. He knew how strong Jack's sense of right and wrong was and knew that if Jack heard about what was happening to his big sister he wouldn't be happy. When he had told Jack where they were going and why Jack had just about bounced off the walls even as he promised to be the best little brother in the world. Apparently, some of his classmates had older siblings then themselves and Jack had been jealous of the bond they seemed to share.

The rest of the flight passed in much the same manner with the only pause in the conversation being for their in-flight meal as Jack took his headphones out while he was eating. They spoke about the backgrounds that had been pulled up for each of the people in Marinette's' class and felt they knew which ones would have been swayed and why as well as which ones would keep quiet out of fear. By the time their plane landed, they had agreed they would have to talk to Marinette first but they were pretty sure she would want to change schools to get away from all the negative memories that had been formed by her class.

The trip from the airport to the hotel was also uneventful however that changed soon after their arrival. They checked into the hotel and received their key card and were just about to gather their luggage when something large and scaley ran past them fairly quickly. It stopped near the doors watching them eagerly, it's tail waving wildly. They blinked then Reid broke the silence.

“Either I am seeing things or that is a crocodile. What is a crocodile doing in Paris, let alone in an upmarket hotel?” The team couldn't answer however it seemed they didn't need to as their answer arrived in the form of a teen with Ravens wing blue hair pulled into pigtails walked through the door, only to drop what she was holding as she fell to the floor with a lap full of the reptile.

“FANG!” she yelped. “Hey, silly boy why are you down here and not upstairs with your dad? You know you not allowed out of the room without a lead on. Did you escape just too great me?” Even as she calmed down and spoke, she was rubbing its jaw showing absolutely no fear of it despite its size. She even seemed to scold it through the giggles that were now trying to escape her lips. The huge croc simply rumbled in what could only be described as a purr. Another teen stalked into the reception hall to see what the commotion was, only for a sneer to cross her face.

“Uugh, it's you. Seriously why are you even here?”

“Hello to you too, Chloé. I'm sure I don't have to explain myself to you so instead of fighting, why don't I simply take Fang back to his room and then you don't have to see me.” As she replied to Chloé, she pushed the croc off her lap and gathered the bags that she had been carrying. They seemed to be clothing bags of some description. She then looked up and the BAU realised who the girl was, Marinette. Why was she here on a Friday night? Shouldn't she be at home? Why was she so comfortable around such a large crocodile?

“Fine! Just get out of my sight. This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” The blond, Chloé, spun on her heel, flicked her hair and flounced off. Marinette looked at the BAU and seemed to read their confused faces as confusion over Chloés' behaviour.

“Don't worry about her,” she said reassuringly, “ Chloé is always like that, her father is the mayor and owns this hotel. She was also one of the temporary hero's at one stage so she likes to act like everyone else is beneath her.” She then looked down at the crocodile, “Right, let's go, Fang, your papa is probably pulling his hair out looking for you. I have his and Penny's order with me, they just need to have their final fitting then we can have some more cuddles, how does that sound?” The crocodile pranced in place, acting more like a big puppy rather than the reptile he was, then as Marinette walked towards the elevator he walked next to her, as perfectly behaved as any army dog. As she got the elevator she frowned then looked at them again.

“Since there are so many of you would some of you like to travel up with Fang and me? He's a big softy who wouldn't hurt a fly, I promise.”

Jack immediately started tugging Hotch's hand, “Please Dad? I want to pet him!” 

Hotch smiled softly yet worriedly, he was a little nervous for this to be his first interaction with his daughter but his paternal instinct wanted him to get to know her and find out why she was here with garment bags in the first place. JJ noticed his dilemma and volunteered to go up with them. Hotch smiled at her in relief and the three of them joined Marinette just as it arrived so they all piled in. Marinette quickly showed Jack how to pat Fang and the croc seemed to lap up the attention. It was pure chance that they were all going to the same floor so when the doors opened again Marinette let them out first then walked out only to be greeted by an overly loud shout.

“MARINETTE! And you found Fang for me! Rock on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the times for arrival seem a little weird but I did google them to make sure they were at least semi-accurate. 
> 
> Also thanks to Virgil-is-a-cutie for the idea about the teachers!


	5. Chapter 5

_ “MARINETTE! And you found Fang for me! Rock on!” _

Hotch was stunned, who was this man with crazy hair that had just yelled his daughter's name? Was Fang his pet and if so why did he have a crocodile as a pet instead of something else. Couldn't he have chosen a normal pet? Most importantly was he always this loud? He was pulled out of his thoughts when JJ gripped his wrist.”

“That's Jagged Stone! How on earth does your daughter know Jagged Stone?” she hissed into his ear. Hotch didn't recognise the name so he just shrugged. He then looked at Jack and was surprised to see that Jack looked just as star-struck. He snapped his attention back to Marinette when he heard her laugh.

“More like he found me, Uncle J! I swear he listens in on your phone conversations so that he knows when I'll be coming to see you. I'm just glad I don't need to use a lead with him as I don't have any free hands.” 

“Well of course he does! As soon as I mention your name he starts looking for you!” Jagged's voice seemed to be set in outside mode as he spoke, his hands waving wildly. “You are one of his favourite people after all. Now did you bring everything?”

“I have everything with me to make sure you look totally rock and roll on stage and for your other event. I couldn't leave Penny looking anything but amazing either!” Marinette lifted the garment bags slightly. “I left some pins and things with Penny just in case but these were tailored for you so we shouldn't have any problems.”

Now that Hotch was looking at the garment bags properly, he could see a small logo on them. JJ had noticed it too as he could see her practically vibrating in excitement. He'd have to ask her about that later. He wondered what was in them, the man seemed excited about the bags though, especially when he saw the logo.

“Oh little M, you finally putting your signature on the bags as well as your designs! Taken you long enough! Oh, and we need to talk about expanding my range of sunglasses at some stage.” Jagged seemed to ramble as he led Marinette to his room.

Hotch was a little concerned to see a man much older than his daughter lead her towards a room, only to relax a fraction when the door opened and there were other people in the room with them. Strangely enough, JJ's grip got tighter upon seeing the other people in the room. Just as he was about to ask the rest of the team arrived, so he delayed his questions until everyone had put their bags down and they met up once again, only this time it was in his suite.

“Dad, was that really my big sister? I mean you didn't talk to her much but her name is the same as the one you said my sister has and she has the same eyes as you.” Jack babbled excitedly.

I believe she is your sister, Jack but I'm not sure if she knows about me yet which is why I didn't talk to her too much.” Hotch replied as calmly as he could. The rest of the team could see JJ just about bouncing in her seat and, as this wasn't normal for her, they couldn't help but wonder about it. Eventually, it was Reid that broached the question that even Hotch wanted to ask.

“JJ you've been bouncing in your seat ever since we got here, what has you so excited?”

“You mean other than the fact that we are in the same hotel as Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale? Only the fact that Hotch's daughter is the one and only MDC!” JJ was fangirling by the time she finished speaking. 

“What? How do you know that? MDC is super private about who they are, to the point where you have to be referred to her by someone who knows her to even have a shot at getting one of her designs. None of her designs are available off the rack and anytime anything said to be by her appears in shops, it's quickly proven to be fake and no one knows how!” Prentiss said in an awed tone.

“The logo on the garment bags was the same logo MDC uses and Jagged said and I quote  _ 'you finally putting your signature on the bags as well as your designs!' _ I can't believe we will be meeting her.”

“Are you telling me my daughter is not on;y friends with celebrities but is one herself?” Hotch was stunned.

“Oh, not only is she a celeb herself Hotch, she is one with the most elusive and mysterious as she is yet to grant a reporter an interview. Her clothes are always high end yet environmentally friendly and she always makes sure the person she designs for looks like they are one step ahead of any current fashion trend without looking like they are trying too hard!” This time it was Garcia singing the praises. Prentiss and JJ nodded in agreement with what had just been said.

“She really is amazing Hotch.”

Morgan looked thoughtful as he heard what the girls were saying, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the team. They were about to ask when Hotch noticed Jack yawning.

“We can finish this after I put Jack to bed, we are expecting Matt and the others soon so let's hold off on anymore discussion until they get here. We can order coffee and anything we want from room service while we wait.” Hotch's voice was firm but the team understood that that was just his way of coping. He'd had several surprises in the last day and they seemed to just keep coming, it was no surprise to any of them that he was battling to maintain his composure.

Sure enough, the IRT showed up 5 minutes later, though to the teams surprise they had a small woman and a bear of a man with them. Hotch recognised them and greeted them warmly so the team relaxed slightly realising that the two unknowns were, in fact, Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng. Since they had brought some pastries with them, both sweet and savoury types, they sent an order for drinks through to the kitchen then settled in for the conversation that they all knew had to happen. Hotch closed his eyes for a minute then opened them to look at Tom and Sabine. 

“Did you she was mine?”

“Not until she was about 4,” Sabine admitted. “We were confused about how quickly I fell pregnant the first time yet when we decided to try for a second I just couldn't conceive. We'd been trying for two years when we went to see a specialist and fond out Tom had an extremely low sperm count. We knew none of us remembered the night we all spent together so we just counted it as a blessing. It was only when Marinette was hurt and needed stitches that we found out she has O negative, which should be impossible as I am A positive and Tom is B positive, that we realised that she wasn't Tom's daughter biologically. I thought about contacting you but never really found the time. I know that's a weak excuse but it is the truth.”

Tom sighed then spoke quietly, “We are sorry we didn't tell you about her, however, she does know that while she is not my daughter by blood I do still love her dearly and she has never held it against us. We told her the truth about her birth when she was 10 as we felt she was old enough to understand by that stage. I remember she said that she would like to meet you at some stage but that she understood that no matter what happened in the future, she was loved and that we would always be there for her.”

“Thank you. Both for your honesty and for making sure she knew. I would like to meet her properly though I understand she is busy at the moment though I don't know what with.” Hotch smiled wrily as their expressions. “We had just checked in when she arrived here only to be tackled by a crocodile. It gave us all quite the scare until she started laughing.”

“Since I know you won't spread this around we'll tell you that it's a final fitting for outfits that will be worn tomorrow. We won't tell you what they are for as we did sign NDA's but you don't need to worry about who she's with. We monitor what they say to each other just to be safe, but it hasn't ever been necessary. She also knows we are here so she will join us as soon as she is done, I hope that no one minds.” Sabine was quick to reassure them.

The team just smiled and nodded then turned the topic of conversation towards everything that they had managed to dig up about Lila and the rest Marinette's class. The IRT then filled them in on what had they had found out with regards to the Akuma situation and Tom and Sabine chipped in whenever they knew something extra.

_ It was about 10:30 pm when there was a knock on the door, it was Marinette's turn to join in on the planning session.  _


	6. Chapter 6

_ It was about 10:30 pm when there was a knock on the door, it was Marinette's turn to join in on the planning session.  _

Sabine was the one to answer the door and bring her in which is why she was surprised to see so many people in the room.

“Is everything alright? Maman? Did something happen?” The questions bubbled out of Marinette before she could stop them.

“Oh honey no, nothing is like that, stop panicking. I'm sure you remember talking to Matt the other day,” Sabine waited for Marinette to nod before continuing. “He apparently recognised your eyes and made the logical choice to call in your biological dad, who then decided that since his team is like an extended family to him, that they should be included.”

Marinette, while stunned that her biological father was in the room, pushed that aside to process the rest of the statement. She was unaware that everyone was able to watch her thoughts fly across her face and that they were amused by the little display she was unwittingly giving them. They were all thankful that they were profilers at that moment as they watched as she first dealt with the relief that something was going to be done about Lila only for her eyes to widen slightly at the fact that her birth father was in the room hit her.

She took a deep breath to centre herself before saying, “Can I ask who my birth father is before we carry on? I have a feeling that if I don't deal with that first my brain might keep coming back to that rather then deal with anything else?”

The team smiled at this as it was such a Reid thing to do that they knew how to handle it. It was slightly weird that it came from someone related to Hotch but it made things more familiar none the less.

“That would be me,” Hotch said with one of his slight smiles, finding some amusement in how easy she was to read for them.

“I'm glad to meet you then, um...” Marinette stumbled to a stop as she realised that she shouldn't know their names. Sure she had looked them up online so that she could contact them as Ladybug bug she hadn't done that as yet and she technically hadn't been introduced to anyone yet. A round of chuckles sounded around the room at this before they all introduced themselves. The men decided to just give the normal introduction of their name and which team they were with as were Mae and Clara, Prentiss was able to keep herself from being over the top as was JJ though it was a close call. Garcia, however, was a different story.

“OMG, you are just too cute. I'm Penelope Garcia but most just call me Penny or Garcia. I love your outfit, is it one you designed? Of course, it is, silly question! Why wouldn't you wear your own designs?”

Marinette blinked twice then spoke in a slightly dazed voice, “I'm glad I'm not the only one who word vomits when I'm excited.”

The comment did two things though both were unintentional if anyone asked. The first was that where there had been a slight tension in the room it was now gone, replaced by a slightly more relaxed atmosphere. The second was that it allowed Marinette to focus on what she deemed important again.

“Right, nice to meet you, what would you like me to call you though? I know it won't be papa because that will always be papa Tom but I think it would be rude to simply call you Hotch.”

Hotch was quiet for a moment then said, “Well how about just calling me dad, if you are comfortable with it that is.”

Marinette nodded then almost chirped her next words, “Now that that is out the way, I'm guessing Matt has filled everyone in on what I told him the other day? I know he said he wanted to confirm something with Agent Rossi so...” She trailed off slightly though the team was more than happy to take up the tail end of her thought.

Before anyone knew it it was midnight and Tom was yawning. Marinette would be staying in Jagged suite that night as there was an extra room and she was needed to help with the final prep work for his wedding so she simply said goodnight to her parents and watched as they left. The team was surprised when no sooner then the door was closed Marinette's personality turned a lot more serious.

“I know that you've been told about what has been happening in Paris, the Hawkmoth situation that is.” She stated as she turned to look at them, they nodded and she seemed to take a deep breath and gather herself before continuing. “Right, well what I'm about to tell you will possibly surprise you and I know it will be a huge risk of my part but I feel as profilers you would figure it out anyway. You see the thing is I'm Ladybug.” Marinette bit her lip as she waited for their reaction to that bombshell.

“You mean to tell me that you are the one running around, putting her life in danger for people that don't seem to appreciate it. No offence to you, kid, but I don't buy it.” Morgans voice was firm as he spoke. Hotch's temper, which had been close to the surface due to the previous topic of conversation was now at a critical point.

“I can prove it if you want?” Marinette was calm, though that changed when she saw the dark purple butterfly approaching Hotch. It was due to this that she didn't wait for a reply before calling for Tikki to transform her and no sooner then the transformation had washed over her, her yo-yo was flying towards the butterfly capturing it. The team blinked at the speed she had moved at in awe.

“Okay, now I've seen everything.” Morgan was stunned.

“What was that? One minute you were calm then you just moved.” Hotch was the one to speak this time, his anger replaced by shock. “How and why did you do that?”

Marinette release the purified butterfly from the yoyo then dropped her transformation again with a small smile.

“Sorry, I saw the Akuma heading for you and couldn't let that happen. Not only do you know my identity but I don't think you would have liked the knowledge that you were controlled.” As she spoke Tikki had floated to the table and helped herself to a couple of macaroons that had been left on the plate. Reid was watching Tikki in fascination, the rest of the team just looked like they didn't know what to think of her.

“What are you?” Reid eventually asked.

“I'm Tikki, I'm what gives Ladybug her powers when combined with her miraculous. I'm known as a Kwami and as I'm Ladybug's kwami I am the Kwami of creation.” Tikki chirped out in between her dainty bites of macaroon. Marinette just smiled at her.

“Don't forget you are part of the reason I'm still sane despite all the madness in my life.” Tikki shot Marinette a look at that which made her laugh. “Yes Tikki, I know I need to head to bed soon as I have a big day today.”

“What do you mean you have a big day today?” Hotch asked suddenly concerned again.

Marinette smiled, “I'm part of a wedding party so I need to be awake to help keep the bride calm and keep the groom from seeing her before she walks down the aisle towards him. I hope you don't mind but could we perhaps meet up again on Sunday at about 1 pm at my parents place so that we can talk about everything else that needs to be spoken about?” 

_ Everyone nodded as they were getting pretty sleepy, before Marinette could leave, however, Garcia piped up. “When everything started did you get a new phone and number or did you just change your number?” _

_ “I bought a new phone and got a new number and only gave a select few the new number. I carry both with me but I very really check my old one these days. Why?” _

_ Garcia smiled almost too sweetly and for some reason, Marinette felt that it didn't bode well when Garcia smiled like that. _

_ “I just thought if you still had it we could sort through everything on it to see if we can use anything on it and see if we can use anything on it to help catch Lila.” _

_ “Oh, um, sure I guess,” Marinette replied. “You'll probably find a lot of photo's of Adrien Agreste on it though. I went through a time when I had a massive crush on him, almost to the point of obsession so I had an insane collection of his photo's. We, that is Adrien and me, have spoken about it though and we decided we better off as friends for now. If you can find anything helpful on it feel free though.” As Marinette spoke she handed her old phone over to Garcia. _

_ “Oh don't worry, if it's on there and it can be used my Baby Girl will find it,” Morgan stated confidently. _

_ “Well aren't you the flatterer my Chocolate God” came the flirty reply. Marinette looked on in confusion. _

_ “They not dating nor do they want to but this is just how they are,” Hotch reassured her placing a hand on her shoulder. “We'll see you on Sunday?” He asked a little less confidently. _

_ “Barring an Akuma attach which could make me late, you will.” Marinette smiled, then yawned. “Come on Tikki, let's go get some sleep, we are going to need it.”  _


	7. Chapter 7

“Barring an Akuma attach which could make me late, you will.” Marinette smiled, then yawned. “Come on Tikki, let's go get some sleep, we are going to need it.” 

As Marinette walked the short distance back to the room she would be staying in that night, she thought about the argument she knew she was about to have with Tikki. She wanted to make sure that she had all of her reasonings straight before Tikki could even start as she knew Tikki would respect a well thought out argument rather than an emotional one. 

Right, Fact one: I was going to call them in any way and they need as many facts as possible to create a solid profile. Fact two: Her parents already knew anyway as they had walked into her room while she was dropping her transformation after a difficult fight. Fact three: One of the men on that team was her father and deserved the truth. Fact four: As far as she knew they were leaving Paris soon anyway. Fact five: they knew how to keep secrets, they were in the FBI after all.

Yes, Marinette thought those were all very solid reasons that, while they wouldn't calm Tikki down completely, would show Tikki that she had thought through her decision before just blurting it out. It'll help that Hotch was almost Akumatised and I needed to act quickly to prevent it! Marinette thought almost sardonically.

As soon as they were in the room Tikki had floated up in front of her with her paws crossed. The look in Tikki's eyes almost screamed 'explain, now, or else.' Marinette almost shook her head at how predictable Tikki could be at times. Sure she could be extremely supportive but sometimes Marinette felt that Tikki only looked at the big picture and as a result, she sometimes missed the finer details and occasionally that included her feeling. 

“I'll give you your answers but I'm going to be preparing for bed while I talk as it's extremely late and I need to be in top form for Uncle J's wedding, fair enough?” Marinette asked one eyebrow raised as if to challenge Tikki to say no. Getting Tikki's agreement Marinette started going through her nightly routine while listing off the reasons she had come up with earlier. 

“Alright,” Tikki replied eventually, “I don't like it but I do understand it and I can see this wasn't a rash decision. I just hope they are as good as you say they are and that you haven't put your trust in the wrong place.”

“Thanks, Tikki,” Marinette yawned as she settled into bed, her eyes already closing.

Down the hall, the two BAU teams were trying to process the fact that Hotch's daughter was Ladybug.

“I can't believe that she just blurted out her secret like that.” Hotch wasn't sure who said that but Reid's reply caught his interest immediately though.

“Did she really blurt it out without thought though? Let's look at the facts here, she stated that she knew we would guess who she was anyway. This implies that she looked us up beforehand, our team is fairly well known and while not everything can be found online, it was a safe assumption that she would have tried to contact us at some point in the near future. She also was too quick to offer to prove it but didn't wait for our answer when she saw Hotch was about to be compromised. This shows that she values honesty and that she cares more for family, even if she doesn't know them well than she does for any secrecy.”

The team was quiet until Hotch decided it was time for them all to head to bed, he knew Jack would wake him up early regardless of what time he went to bed. Jack was like Haley in that respect.

The team woke up gradually, Hotch first then Garcia and Reid with the rest following slowly. Jack was bursting with questions about his sister and had been quite put out by the fact that she had been there the night before and they hadn't woken him up to meet her. Hotch had tried to explain but Jack had just pouted. Eventually, Garcia had suggested that they send Marinette a message and see if she was free at all that day to meet Jack. The whole team was awake by this stage so it was agreed that that was what they would do. To their surprise Marinette had replied rather quickly, saying if they didn't mind she could visit for an hour before she had to leave again. Jack had jumped on the idea and so the team had agreed.

As a result, they were very surprised when half an hour later there was a knock on the door and when they opened it, Marinette stood there. What was more surprising was that she was dress in a lavender silk robe over a floor-length black dress that shimmered into deep purple as she walked. Her hair was artfully pulled into a half up half down riot of curls and pinned in place with what looked hairpins set with amethysts. She had light make up on with the eyeshadow done in pale shades of purple and artful wings that highlighted her eyes making them seem larger then they were. Around her neck was a stunning amethyst necklace which seemed to shimmer with life all of its own. She was also wearing high heels, which surprised them. All in all, she looked stunning and they all said as much to her, though they did have to ask about the robe.

“Well, I didn't want to spill anything on this dress.” She laughed then continued, “I think Penny would kill me if I did, one of her other friends is currently keeping her calm but as the wedding is in 2 hours I knew I wouldn't have time to change into my dress after we got her into her dress and I did up the laces and any last-minute touches that might be needed. We will be photographed as we do that but all the photo's that are taken today will only be released after their honeymoon is over in roughly two weeks.”

JJ and the rest of the girls were quiet for a moment then Prentiss spoke up. “I think I speak for us all when I say two questions. One- Who is getting married and two – may we please see the whole dress that you are wearing?”

Marinette laughed before replying, “Jagged and Penny are finally getting married and on top of asking me to design their wedding outfits, Penny asked me to be her maid of honour. I signed an NDA when I accepted but I have permission from them to tell you about it.” Instead of answering the second question verbally she stood up and shrugged off the robe revealing the ombre effect in the centre of the dress. Once again the team was struck speechless at the detail in the dress as well as it's elegance. She let them get a good look at the dress before pulling the robe back on.

“Now, I believe there was someone eager to meet me properly.” She smiled as she spoke looking over at Hotch and Jack. For some reason, Jack was being shy and hiding behind Hotch's legs. 

“Would it help if I sat down?” concern was evident in her voice but it seemed to help Jack break out of his momentary bashfulness as he slowly walked forward.

“I know I saw you last night but are you sure you are my sister and not a fairy princess?” Jack's tone held a small amount of awe. “You look so pretty.”

“I'm no fairy, though I suppose I am short enough to be one and I'm sure I'm not a princess even if I have my own tower.” She crouched then smiled and winked as she said the last bit showing that she wasn't offended. “I'm just a normal girl who gets to play dress-up once in a while and today is one of those days.” Her tone was light as though she expected Jack's shyness to return at any second and she didn't want to scare him.

“Are you sure? You managed to tame a crocodile last night so you have to be a fairy princess!” Jack stated with all the conviction of a 9-year-old. “You pretty, can tame animals and are kind so you have to be a princess!”

“Unfortunately I can't claim the title of a princess but there is one title I can claim, do you know what that is?”

“No, what?”

“Your big sister. My name is Marinette and if I heard Dad properly earlier your name is Jack right?” All Jack could do was nod even as she slowly drew him into a soft conversation. 

The team watched on quietly, trying not to melt at the sight of the siblings interacting for the first time. It looked very cute with her crouching to be closer to Jack's height and Jack looking at her in total awe. All too soon it was time for her to head back to Penny's side, which had Jack pouting again until Marinette promised he'd see her tomorrow. That seemed to cheer him up considerably and he waved happily as she said her goodbyes to the team.

“That went well,” Rossi said with a slightly wistful tone in his voice, thinking of how he had missed his daughter growing up and how he had missed so much of his grandson's life so far as well.

“The more I see her, the more I can't help but want to steal her and wrap her up then hide her from the world!” Garcia's tone was light and bubbly but the team could see that she meant what she said.

“Then let's see what we can get off her old phone to nail the liar in a way she can't wriggle out of. I swear we've had unsubs less slippery then her!” Hotch’s tone was firm yet his voice had been pitched in such a way that it wouldn't startle Jack. “Garcia please work on the phone, Reid could you please go over everything we know about her class teacher and any laws here in France that we could use to make sure we didn't miss anything while we were on the plane. Morgan, Rossi, JJ and Prentiss please head out and have a look around so that we can gauge the mood of everyone here, pay close attention to teens who look to be in Marinette's age group, just don't make it look obvious that you are doing so. We know what her class looks like thanks to the class photo so see if we can't spot them at all. I'm going to visit Tom and Sabine to see if Marinette has mentioned anyone that still believes in her as well as to introduce them to Jack.”

The team nodded and with that, they all separated to get to work on the tasks Hotch had set for them.

These are the hairpins: [Amethyst Hair Pin](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.etsystatic.com%2F5256077%2Fr%2Fil%2F482a2b%2F1155837198%2Fil_794xN.1155837198_qi7x.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.etsy.com%2Fnz%2Flisting%2F485894381%2Famethyst-bobby-pins-purple-quartz-clips&docid=DcAU53w-iXTtbM&tbnid=BUTHLHRy8Y1GlM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjmk-CUyaDmAhX0_XMBHXBYAwUQMwh4KBkwGQ..i&w=794&h=828&itg=1&safe=off&client=firefox-b-d&bih=664&biw=1366&q=amethyst%20hair%20pin&ved=0ahUKEwjmk-CUyaDmAhX0_XMBHXBYAwUQMwh4KBkwGQ&iact=mrc&uact=8)

Her necklace: [Amethyst Necklace](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.supadupa.me%2Fshop%2F15379%2Fimages%2F2861975%2F53A04CF6_5D3B_4711_BEAD_79F0DC9D4F47_large.jpeg%3F1526740077&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.the-crystal-rose.com%2Fproducts%2Fi2-row-amethyst-tennis-bracelet-swarovski-crystal&docid=fg3vr5pXKRsj7M&tbnid=wleMY5wumRhKAM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjlzuqt1KDmAhWC7XMBHQfnCt0QMwjGAigmMCY..i&w=480&h=360&safe=off&client=firefox-b-d&bih=664&biw=1366&q=amethyst%20necklace%20crystal&ved=0ahUKEwjlzuqt1KDmAhWC7XMBHQfnCt0QMwjGAigmMCY&iact=mrc&uact=8)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this comes across as a little dry. I've come to the realisation that I just can't do Marinette justice at all. Any scene with her in it just feels like I'm forcing it slightly. Maybe it's because at her age I cut myself off from kids my own age I don't know...


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick notice before we dive into the chapter, I will be visiting family tomorrow so I am not sure if I will be posting a chapter or not as I don't know if I will have time to write one. I post as I write so within about half an hour of a chapter being finished it's posted.
> 
> Also, I hadn't planned on writing Jagged and Penny's wedding but if you would like me to I will do so as I do have some idea's for it. I don't think it would impact the plot but hay, it might make a nice fluffy piece. If I did write it would just be a one-shot side chapter much like Jack's day...

_ The team nodded and with that, they all separated to get to work on the tasks Hotch had set for them. _

Hotch made his way to Tom and Sabine's bakery with Jack walking excitedly next to him. He was still babbling about how pretty his sister looked and how kind she was. He kept repeating how much he loved her already and how happy he was that he had the best big sister in the world. He hadn't run out of steam by the time they arrived and walked through the bakery doors. Two little girls were trying to choose which sweet they wanted while an older girl watched them. During a pause in their debate, they heard what Jack was saying and a sad look crossed their face. Their big sister noticed and spoke up.

“Ella, Etta, what's wrong? Any time another child says that their sister is the best you normally argue that Ayla is better than them, this time you just looked sad. Is everything alright or did you fight with her?” Hotch heard the name Ayla and decided to listen in as the girls replied.

“We didn't fight with her Nora, how could we have she never babysits us anymore.” 

One sulked before the other continued, “Every time Ayla is meant to look after us, she sneaks out to go on a date with Nino.” Without thought, the two started to tag-team to explain what was happening, first one then the other then back to the first with every sentence 

“It wasn't so bad at first, Ayla used to get Mari to babysit us so sometimes there was us, Chris and Manon all together and she would teach us first aid or how to sow something simple like fixing a button or if she was really busy she'd let us watch a movie.”

“But recently Ayla has been getting another girl, Lila to babysit us and all she does is tell us stories and they are all about herself, they aren't even very good.”

“She says she never lies but if you listen to her everything is a lie as she says she knows people who are dead.”

“She said she rescued Jagged Stones kitten but we all met Jagged the one day when Mari was looking after us because he face-timed her to ask her to make him some more sunglasses and saw we were there so he played a mini-concert for us.”

Hotch and the others listened in slight horror to what the twins were saying. How long had Marinette had to babysit four children all at once? Did the rest of the family know? Hotch glanced at the big sister's face and knew that she hadn't known what was going on at all. He could also tell that the girls had something else they wanted to say so he knelt then he asked a question he knew would prompt them into revealing it.

“Was there anything else? I promise you won't get into trouble for answering no matter what it is.”

“Yeah, when we called her out on her lies the first time, she said that she doesn't lie, just tells people what they want to hear.”

“She then said if we tried to tell anyone we would regret it.”

By this stage, the alarm bells were ringing loud and clear in Hotch's brain. His team had chased unsubs that had less experience covering their tracks then this girl. He wondered which other psychopathic tendencies she displayed and how long she had been targeting people. He turned to the big sister.

“My name is Aaron Hotchner and I work for the FBI in America. I know by french law it is illegal to have recorded what your sisters sad without permission but I wasn't fast enough to have asked before they started speaking. So I recorded them as they spoke, I'm now asking for your permission to keep the recording so that we can hopefully build a full case against this Lila girl before she can hurt anyone else. We will be contacting Interpol as soon as we have enough evidence to move forward.”

“Nora Césaire and with pleasure. I know one of my sister's, Ayla, is already under her spell but I'm hopeful with time and help she can come right. I know my sister isn't perfect, she's stubborn; brash and can be very impatient but she's usually loyal and kind. If those traits are being turned against her I want to help free her before she destroys her future.”

Hotch nodded and handed Nora a card as a precaution then wave as the sisters left. He was very grateful to Tom for distracting Jack before he could hear what the girls said.

____________________________________________________

Morgan and Reid had been wandering through the city acting like normal tourists for most of the afternoon. They hadn't spoken about the case but they had made sure that they were talking about anything and everything that crossed their minds simply so that nobody would think them suspicious. They had just wandered closer to the Seine and Reid was rattling off the fact that the river is 777km long when they bumped into a teenaged boy with blue eyes and dark blue/ black hair with teal tips.

“Whoa, sorry about that we should have looked where we were going,” Morgan apologised.

“It's alright,” replied the teen. “I was so busy looking at my phone that I wasn't concentrating on anything around me. I should know better.” As the teen went to put his phone away, the screen lit up briefly to show a picture of Marinette, the teen in front of them and two others. All of them were dressed in clothes suited to going to a rock concert and all of them had the tips of their hair dyed. Marinette's tips were pink, the other girl had red tips and the last teen was blonde with green tips. The teen noticed the screen light up and checked it again.

“Dammit Adrien, we were meant to have a jam session today,” he muttered after reading the message. “There again, I can't exactly blame this on you. Your pops is an asshole for making you do yet another photoshoot today despite you booking it off two weeks ago.” He then looked up at Morgan and Reid, “Sorry about that, my friend just had to cancel our plans for the afternoon. I'm Luka by the way.”

Morgan introduces himself to Luka then Reid did the same. “I couldn't help but notice the picture on your phone, what concert were you going to?”

“Oh, it was a Jagged Stone concert. My friend Marinette managed to score us some tickets so we dyed their hair with chalk just to complete the whole 'rock' vibe Mari was going for when she designed our outfits. I think the tickets were meant to be for some of her other friends but in the end, she chose to take us instead.”

“Why'd you think that?” Morgan asked with feigned curiosity.

“Look, no offence man, but I don't know you and I don't feel comfortable telling two strangers about my friend's problems,” Luka stated firmly, which made Morgan smile.

“That's probably the best attitude to have.” He said with a reassuring smile. He was just about to continue speaking when he saw JJ and Prentiss walking towards him. They had a group of 5 teens with them that waved to Luka.

“Hey, Luka, do you have time to talk? We know Adrien is supposed to be joining you for a jam session this afternoon,” the black-haired boy in a hoodie asked.

“Yeah, he had to cancel thanks to his dad why, what's up?” Luka responded.

This time it was the redhaired boy that spoke. “We were drinking juice while we were walking when the two ladies with us stopped us and asked about the whole Hawkmoth thing and we kinda got talking about Mari and how she is the only one from our group to never have been Akumatised. That led to talking about her a bit more and then we saw you so we thought we may as well get everyone together so that we don't have to repeat anything.” The redhead looked embarrassed as he spoke.

“Ah makes sense then.” Luka looked thoughtful then spoke again, “Since we are right outside my place, let's make sure we all know each other's names and make sure these four aren't going to kidnap up or anything, then head in. At least that way we can all sit down as we talk. I'll start us off, I'm Luka.” The teens nodded then they each said their names as did the four members of the BAU.

“Kagami,” said the stern-looking girl with shortish hair the same colour as Marinette's.

“Aurore,” this time it was the blond girl.

“Marc,” the boy in the red hoodie said with a shy wave.

“Nathaniel,” the equally she redhead said with a wave.

“Alix,” the final teen introduced herself.

“Alright I'm SSA Derek Morgan and these are SSA Emily Prentiss, SSA Jennifer Jareau aka JJ and Dr Spencer Reid,” Morgan said as each team member waved when their name was said. “We work for the FBI in America and have met Tom and Sabine as well as Marinette, you are welcome to check with them before you talk to us if you prefer.” 

_ The teenagers exchanged a look before Alix spoke up, “I think checking with them first would be our best bet, I'd rather not risk my friends or my own safety by talking out of turn.” Having said that she turned on her heel and walked a little way away from the group and dialled the bakery.  _


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suicide and cyberbullying are mentioned in this chapter you have been warned!

_ Having said that she turned on her heel and walked a little way away from the group and dialled the bakery. _

Sabine was the one who answered the phone and she quickly confirmed that the four adults with them were there to help. Upon hearing this Alix relaxed and the rest of the teens followed suit. After heading onto the Liberty and settled in for what promised to be a long conversation. The teens told the BAU team as much as they could about Lila arriving at the school and everything that followed. How she had targeted Marinette almost immediately, how she had been making suggestions about what they class could do that would supposedly help them “make it big” but from what their group could see, it was slowly making them destroy whatever chance they had of achieving their dreams. They spoke about how they had taken a good look at their own actions when they had realised what was going on and realised what they had done to Mari was not right at all and so they had each gone to her and apologised.

Marc, Nathaniel and Alix all explained how they kept all of Mari's art supplies in their lockers in the art room as they were worried that someone might get the bright idea to destroy them. The list just kept going and throughout it all, they made sure to keep an eye out for Akuma's as they knew they would be prime Akuma bait with everything being spoken about and none of them wanted to deal with that. Once the teens were done it was the BAU teams turn. They admitted that they couldn't reveal everything yet but did fill the teens in on what they could. It was nightfall by the time they were done talking so the team agreed that it was time for them to head back to the hotel. The teens decided they would have a sleepover instead as Luka had the boat to himself that night. So, after saying their goodbye's the four of them headed back to the hotel.

By the time they reached the Hotel they had worked up quite an appetite, so they called the rest team and asked what they wanted to eat, placed the order for room service, then headed up. When they got to the room they were surprised by how quiet Garcia was being however before they could ask Garcia spoke.

“Two things, firstly I will give you the details of what I found after we've eaten as if I start now, none of you will want to eat. Like at all. We've had bad cases but what I've found makes those cases seem so normal it's scary. Also, Jack is still in the room and I don't want to give him the same nightmares I know I'm going to be having. Anyway, the second point is more of a question for Emily.”

“What's the question, Garcia?” Prentiss asked as her friend stopped to take a breath. 

“Do you still have your contacts in Interpol?”

The team gasped at the question. While Jack wouldn't understand the implications of it the team did, what they had originally thought to be a case of getting rid of a bully was so much bigger.

“I'll call and ask if any of them are in Paris at the moment and get them to meet us here in an hour if you'd like?” Prentiss answered.

“Please do.”

The next hour passed relatively quickly, they had eaten and tried to keep themselves distracted and it worked for the most part. As soon as Jack was in bed and the Interpol agent, Clyde Easter, had arrived Garcia knew it was time to start.

“If I could turn your attention to your tablets you will see the files of three other girls have been sent to them. I know this seems random, however after going through our little Mari's old phone and looking at how 'Lila' had basically convinced all of Mari's friends to join her in what amounts to cyberbullying, I knew I had to look deeper. My first point of call was looking into Lila Rossi specifically only to find that she didn't exist prior to joining Collège Françoise Dupont, like at all. If we look at the school records the day she first joined Mari's class she was actually enrolled as 'Nekane Layla Kelly' originally from Basque. About the only thing Nekane hasn't lied about is that her mother is an Italian diplomat. Anyway, she was born in the Italian Embassy in Basque and attended school there until she was 10 when her mother was transferred back to Italy as Nekane's grandmother was dying. They spent two years there before heading to Spain for two years and finally came here to France. She didn't change her name until she came to France as she felt that it would stand out too much here. Now I know it's normal for diplomats to move but except for the first one there wasn't a reason given for the change. 

Anyway, I looked at her old classmates and found something weird. If you look at the files for Aisha Robinson; Tamiko Norris and Amara Mogami you will see that not only are they similar in looks to Marinette but they also have multicultural parents with one being Europian and the other being Asian. This may seem minor at a glance but all three girls were in the same class as Nekane and two of them committed suicide shortly before Nekane moved. Aisha attempted to commit suicide too however her babysitter got concerned when she didn't respond to the call to come down to eat and went to check on her then called for emergency services who were able to save her. In each of the girl's cases, they were fairly popular at school until Nekane joined their class were upon their classmates turned on them and started bullying them. Aisha doesn't talk much anymore but she has had to be changed to homeschooled as she can't handle being around people her age anymore. In her case her parents supported her however in Tamiko and Amara's case, the girl's parents believed what everyone was saying about their daughters.”

The team was silent as they listened to Garcia, JJ had tears running down her face at the thought of what could have happened if Marinette's friends hadn't rallied around to support her. Emily had closed her eyes, as a diplomat's child herself, she knew that frequent moves happened, but that they always had a reason. Clyde had also closed his eyes, he'd dealt with a lot of nasty things while working for Interpol but this was something he never thought he would see. He looked at the age that Nekane Kelly would have been at the time of each of the other girl's suicides and realised that she would have been about 10 for the first 12 for the second and 14 for the third. He looked up as he realised this and repeated his thought out loud so that the rest of the team could hear it too. Reid made the connection first.

“She's targeting Marinette as her fourth victim. Unlike our other unsubs, she get's her satisfaction from playing with her victims' lives and destroying them without having to kill them herself. I think the deaths are inconsequential for her, she just likes seeing her target suffer. Marinette is suffering but she isn't letting Nekane get her way. She's speaking out more and hasn't let herself be isolated, she changed her phone number but rather than let her old number be reassigned she kept her old phone to help get evidence of what's going on. Do we know if the other three girls were targeted at school the same way Marinette has been or was their's only cyberbullying?”

“According to Aisha's parents it was at school as well,” Garcia replied. “I only looked into the cyber side thanks to Marinette's phone. I saw several messages telling her she should just kill herself and spare the world, among other things. They all started when Nekane rejoined the class.”

“According to the group of Mari's friends we spoke to earlier, the bullying from the class started at around the same time. They mentioned that one of the more aggressive girls still calls herself Mari's 'bestie' but is the first to put her down if 'Lila' even looks like she's even mildly upset. The girl seems to think that Mari is jealous of 'Lila' being interested in the same boy as Mari, yet according to her friends Mari and the boy, Adrian, have agreed to just be friends until the boy completes at least another year of councilling. They didn't say what he needs that for but it does show that those that truly know Mari know the truth. They also mentioned that the two might not date at all and that it depends on how they both feel at that time.” Morgan commented before he and the other three who had met with Marinette's friend group told the team what they had found out. Hotch followed Morgan's example by telling the team about what happened in the bakery.

“Before the three of them left I got the mother's name and said I'd like to speak to her, Nora said she'd stay up and talk to her parents when they got home. Hopefully, I'll hear from them soon as I have a feeling there's more to the babysitting story then we know,” Hotch concluded.

It was then that his phone rang, apparently they would be hearing from Mrs Césaire much sooner then they had thought.


	10. Chapter 10

_ It was then that his phone rang, apparently, they would be hearing from Mrs Césaire much sooner then they had thought. _

Hotch answered his phone and had found out that she was still at work, which happened to be down in the kitchens of the very hotel they were staying in. As she still had an hour on her shift but it was a slow night for her, Hotch offered to come down to the kitchens for them to be able to talk. She accepted so he headed down to join her. He knew he would need to have the team on a conference call, not only so Garcia could look up anything extra at will but so that the team could chip in with anything he forgot to mention. 

This turned out to be such a good idea that Marlena Césaire did the same except her call included her husband, Otis, and her oldest daughter Nora, whom he had met earlier. It turned out that neither of the Césaire's had known what their middle child had been doing and they had been paying Ayla to look after Ella and Etta. Hotch was quiet for a moment at that new before he asked the question that had been playing on his mind.

“Mrs  C ésaire _ , _ when the twins were talking in the bakery earlier they mentioned that sometimes Marinette had to look after all four of them. Now I know two of the four would be Ella and Etta but do you by any chance know who the other two would be?”

Marlena frowned in thought then answered, “The only two I can think of would be Manon Chamack and Chris Lahiffe. Marinette is Manon's go-to babysitter as she has been looking after Manon for years so that one is understandable, Chris, however, is Nino's little brother. I think we need to bring Nino's parents in on this conversation too.”

“Sure.” 

Hotch was quiet as Marlena added Lili Lahiffe to the conversation. Once Lili had answered Hotch and Marlena took turns explaining what they had discovered and eventually asked if she had known that Nino had been pushing his responsibility off onto Marinette for quite some time and more recently onto Lila Rossi.

It turned out while she had known about Marinette looking after Chris now and then, had even sent money to pay for her time, she hadn't known about Lila and was understandably furious. After all, she had never met Lila and Nino knew that Chris was not to be left with anyone she didn't know. Hotch was briefly worried about an Akuma but knew that there would be nothing he could do about it.

They spent the next half an hour trying to make sure they all had the same information until it was decided that Marlena and Lili would join the Bau at the Bakery the next day and see if Marinette had anything to add. The two women would talk to their youngest children before heading over as well.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 PM arrived faster than anyone thought it would. Tom and Sabine's house was packed to bursting with so many people that were there, Marinette had been surprised by the addition of Marlena and Lili but had simply added extra cups to the tray and made sure that there were enough snacks set out for everyone. Sabine was closing the bakery and Tom was just finishing the rest of the cleanup that he needed to do then they would be joining everyone too. Marinette had decided to give Marlena the twins' recital outfits while they waited and had run-up to her room to fetch them. She soon came back down with two thin boxes in her hands, which she promptly handed to Marlena.

“What do you think of these?” She asked after prompting Marlena to open the boxes. “I know that they will be doing different routines this time and I had thought to ask them for their opinions on these the next time I looked after them but I haven't seen them in about two months now. Isn't the recital meant to be in three weeks?”

Marlena was shocked, “Are you sure you want the twin to wear these? They are so pretty! It seems such a waste for children so young.”

“Oh, I made their last ones too. Once they have outgrown them, they get given to the teachers for any kids that can't afford to get their own outfits made. I don't mind making them as the twins are always so happy with them. As I used to look at the twins at least once every two weeks, it was easy to get their measurements.”

Marlena and Lili exchanged a look then Lili decided she needed to speak up, “Marinette how often have you been looking after the kids for us? I know I only gave Nino money for you once a month but if you've been seeing the twins at least once every two weeks...” Lili's voice trailed off at the look of pure confusion on Marinette's face.

“What do you mean you gave Nino money for me? I've never been paid to look after Chris, Ella and Etta, only for Manon. Nadia is always very prompt with that but Ayla always asked me to look after the twins at the last second, occasionally she even just showed up with a 'Hi, something came up, gotta go, bye' sort of attitude. I always thought you knew when I had them though.” Marinette's voice was soft by the time she had finished speaking. She could see both women were breathing deeply trying to keep their tempers in check.

“Tell us everything,” Marlena requested. 

So Marinette did. She told them about the recitals she took the twins to, about all the times she'd looked after them only to have to pull an all-nighter to get all her homework done. She even told them about the number of times she had refused to look after the kids due to an Akuma attack happening, only to see the children after the attacks looking very unhappy.

“Ayla stopped asking me to look after them two months ago when I had to say I couldn't take them the one evening due to being extremely busy with a commission. She yelled at me, saying I was a bad friend for saying no, then left. I haven't looked after them since.” Marinette concluded.

Both women were stunned. Their children had been left in the care of someone else, without their knowledge or consent, they had been dragged into potentially dangerous situations at times and now they were being left with a total stranger. Lili wondered what had happened to the money that she had given Nino to pay Marinette. He didn't have anything new so he hadn't spent it on himself, she'd have to ask him she concluded.

“I thought I taught my children better than this,” Marlena said brokenly.

“If I may?” JJ spoke softly, “Their actions might not truly be their own. We can't say too much but I suspect that they may be being manipulated by someone. We are investigating it so try not to be too hard on yourselves about this. I know how responsible my son is for his age but even I don't know if he would have been able to avoid this person's manipulations.”

JJ's words made both women nod and they smiled thankfully at her. They then took their leave as they wanted to get back to their families. They did, however, agree not to say anything just to Ayla and Nino just yet.

Once they had left and the drinks and eats had been topped up, Hotch spoke.

“Now that we have that out the way I recommend that we make sure everyone in this room is on the same page so that we can plan our next move.”

The look on everyone's faces would have sent shivers down Nekane and Hawkmoth's spins. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note:  
> I tried looking for Nino's mother's name and couldn't find one, I also couldn't find any mention of his father so just pretend they are divorced for this AU.  
> If you are curious to know why I chose Nekane Layla Kelly as Lila's real name it's because Nekane means 'suffering', Layla means 'woman of the night' and Kelly means 'Intelligent and bright'. While I dislike Lila (which ironically also means “woman of the night”) I do think she has a brain and that she knows how to use it to get what she wants.   
> I also named her first target Aisha as it means 'one who is alive.'


	11. Chapter 11

_ The look on everyone's faces would have sent shivers down Nekane and Hawkmoth's spines. _

The plan on how to expose Nekane was quick to form however it would take a while to actually come to fruition, especially if they wanted to draw Hawkmoth out at the same time. It would also require serious amounts of help from Interpol as Paris was not the BAU's jurisdiction. Cruz had been great in letting them all take off so suddenly but they knew that they couldn't push their luck too much. The IRT had been called away to a case in Belize so they wouldn't be able to assist in any way. Before they left, however, they had introduced Hotch's team and Clyde to Commissaire Clement. They had looked at bringing in Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix but they had decided he was too close to the mayor and that he might talk to the man out of loyalty. They knew he was a good man and that he tried to do the right thing but they just couldn't risk it with so much at stake.

They would execute the plan in two weeks time, as they needed Jagged's help but didn't want to call him away from his honeymoon. This would also give several other famous people that Lila had lied about, time to fly into the country discreetly. In the meantime, Commissaire Clement would bring in the school board as well as the education department to do their own investigation into the goings-on within the school. He believed that things should never have gotten as far as they had.

Clyde, on the other hand, had dispatched Interpol agents to each of the countries that Nekane had been in and start checking the friends and families of the girls that had died. They would also talk to Aisha and her family to make sure that it was Nekane at the core of the issue. They couldn't afford to leave anything to chance after all. His other stop was to the Italian Embassy. He made to sure to speak to the top diplomate and stressed the need for his conversation to remain confidential until the time was right.

They knew that due to the Vienna Convention of 1961 which focused on Diplomatic Relations, they couldn't even question Nekane without the Italian government waiving her immunity. They also knew that this would most likely be the most difficult part of their plan as governments didn't like lifting their diplomates' immunity except as a last resort.

Thankfully that meeting had been a success, Mrs Kelly's boss had had his concerns about her for some time as he couldn't understand the lack of reasons given for each of her requested transfers. With Clyde's information it was agreed that they would launch a covert investigation of their own to corroborate any evidence found on Nekane, but also to prove that Mrs Kelly was covering for her daughter rather than getting her the help she needed. 

Marinette also had her own part to play in everything. She had to record absolutely everything that happened in the next two weeks. She would wear a camera hidden in a broach on her shirt and the only time it wouldn't be active was during any Akuma attacks when she was Ladybug. They knew kwami's didn't show up on camera, and a little bit of editing would make sure any mention of her superhero activities wouldn't show up.

Slowly the celebrities started to arrive, and as each one did the BAU grew more and more amazed by how many of them Marinette had designed for, even more so that they all seemed very willing to take time out from busy their schedules just to help her. Each time one arrived, they would show up at the bakery after Marinette was done with school for the day and would hang out with Mari until they decided to head to where ever they were staying. 

Jack was having fun while this was all happening too because not only was his big sister spending time with him, he got to meet all these famous people too. He knew he wouldn't be able to brag to anyone when he got back to school but it was still fun getting photo's with them. The highlight for him was when he and Hotch arrived slightly early for supper the one evening and Jack ran into his sister's room without warning. She hadn't closed the door so he hadn't thought much of just going in, only to find her kissing a boy that Jack didn't recognise.

“I thought you liked that blond boy,” Jack's confused voice came through the fog that was clouding Marinette's brain thanks to the kiss. “Why are you kissing this guy when you like someone else?”

Marinette's cheeks were scarlet as she and the boy exchanged glances. His cheeks were just as red as hers.

“Adrian and I were never dating Jack, and after his most recent appointment with his therapist, he came to the realisation that while he loves me it is not romantic love. With everything that has been going on these last few months or so, I'd realised the same thing about him.” Marinette's voice was soft as she answered her little brother's question.

“So is this guy your boyfriend?” Jack demanded.

Marinette blushed shyly, “Yes, Jack, he is. But you can't tell anyone yet okay?”

“Oh, okay then. You'd better treat her right or else!” Jack said waggling his finger at the boy who was still holding his sister's hand.

“I'd better go,” the teen said softly to Marinette, “I'll see you when everything goes down?” Marinette nodded rapidly, still smiling. With that, he left and Marinette turned to her little brother.

“I'm guessing Dad is downstairs?”

“Yup!” Jack tugged Marinette's hand as he started to lead the way down. 

By the time the day to take Nekane down arrived they had everything in place. Celebrities from all over the world were waiting for their signal to act. Marinette had video footage of being threatened in the bathroom on two separate occasions. The Italian Embassy had enough evidence to fire and arrest Mrs Kelly for her part in keeping Nekane from flying under the radar, up to and including stopping an investigation in Basque, which should have taken place when Aisha's parents had filed their complaints.

Commissaire Clemont had made sure to have extra camera's put up in secret around the city, with Ladybug and Chat Noir's help to make sure that no one suspected anything. They had done this during their nighttime patrols so it didn't look suspicious. Thankfully there hadn't been many attacks in the meantime, it did, however, put everyone on edge. They knew from past experience that any Akuma attack that came now would be stronger than normal. 

Marinette knew that they were going to need extra help should that Akuma attack happen due to their plan. As a result, she made sure that Luka, Kagami, Marc, Nathaniel, Alix and Aurore all had a miraculous and they were ready to jump in at any second. Despite having been revealed as Viperion she had still given the snake miraculous to Luka, Kagami, on the other hand, had the fox and would use the name Kitsune. She had given Marc the dog miraculous and he had decided to use the name Akira. Despite knowing she would eventually give Alix the rabbit miraculous, she had given her the tiger as she felt it was needed more, as a result, Tigris would be joining the team. Nathaniel had the rooster miraculous and would use the name Oilarrak while Aurore had the Bee and had named herself Honey.

Marinette had the dragon miraculous on as well as her earrings as an added precaution. She was nervous about having so many miraculi out at the same time but knew she wouldn't be able to run for backup if it turned out that it was needed. She had asked Wayzz to protect the miracle box should anything go wrong. She had even brewed a couple of the potions that would strengthen the kwami's and extend their transformation times, each wielder had been given a set as an added precaution.

That's not to say she wasn't nervous, there was a lot of things that could go wrong but they had done their best to plan for almost every situation. For now, though all she could do was have a good night's sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think there will be 2 or 3 more chapters so I hope you've enjoyed the story so far!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First-Ever Akuma battle so please don't hate me for it, I really battled with it. There is a note at the end, but you don't need to read it unless you want to know who the four celebs I name-dropped in this chapter are, be warned it's a long note!. :)

_For now, though all she could do was have a good night's sleep._

In theory, the plan was simple, in actuality, it was much more complicated to pull off then one would think. They had all the evidence they needed, as did the Italian embassy, who had deemed it appropriate to revoke their diplomatic immunity. As soon as everything started Mrs Kelly would be arrested for conspiracy to commit murder and for aiding a terrorist. That was the easy part. The hard part was going to catch Hawkmoth and Nekane.

The Parisian police had set up a very discrete perimeter around their prim suspect's residence with camera's trained on every window and door to catch any butterflies that left. They had a special camera focused on a window that looked like a butterfly and had what looked to be blast shields that would slide open or close depending on what the operator wanted. They had seen movement within on their infrared camera earlier but they needed more than circumstantial evidence to move in and make an arrest. If necessary, Commissaire Clement had the turtle miraculous and would move in to do the arrest, but that was the last resort only. 

Nekane's takedown was where things would get complicated. Essentially it would be announced to the school as a careers day. Marinette had organised for the school to be called into the main courtyard at 10 am. There was a stage set up at one end of it where the various guest speakers would be speaking from there were chairs for them to sit in once they were done. There had been an announcement on Monday to let everyone know that they would be hosting guest speakers for the careers day and Nekane, although she was still known as Lila to the rest of the students, had claimed she had organised everything. She even claimed that Marinette had tried to talk her out of it.

Everything proceeded well, Prince Ali had spoken about his work with children's hospitals and how he wished he could do more. When they allowed questions, Nathaniel had pointedly asked about his go-green projects to which Ali had replied that although he supported the idea, he didn't have any projects like that as otherwise, he would be too busy.

Jagged Stone had gone next and spoken about life as a rock star and being on the road. He spoke of how Penny had been such a big help and as a result, he emphasized the idea of having reliable people to support them when they were busy. This time it was Luka who spoke up and he asked about Jagged's kitten and despite knowing the question was coming, Jagged had looked highly offended and declared he'd never had one. He wasn't allergic nor did he have anything against them, he just didn't think it would handle the travelling lifestyle.

The next few speakers continued in much the same way. As they all had roughly 30 minutes to talk, plus 10 minutes extra for questions if they so wished, it seemed like everything was going well. They had talks from Steven Spielberg, Michael Houlie, Diane Sawyer, Shinya Yamanaka* and a few more. Each one of them got asked a question by a member of Marinette's class or group about one of Lila's lies about them only for those questions to be answered in such a way that it showed Lila had lied. With each lie that was exposed Lila got angrier and angrier so the team was on high alert for an Akuma. 

By this stage, the whole class had realised she was lying and they were subtly trying to shift away from Lila. It was the perfect time for their last two speakers. First Reid stepped onto the stage. He didn't like being a public speaker but he was good at it when he needed to be. He spoke about what it was like to gain multiple doctorates and to be the youngest person in your workforce. He also spoke very briefly about bullying and what it could do to someone. His main topic, however, was about teaching and how you should make sure to look at all sides of an argument within your class before calling anyone out. As he could quote anything he had read he used their school's code of conduct to do this effectively calling out Mlle Bustier on her behaviour. When he finished his talk he could see several teachers glaring at her and at M. Damocles, both of whom were trying to make themselves look invisible.

Finally, it was time for the final person to speak. Lila watched in horror as David Rossi walked onto the stage and started talking about the work the BAU did and about criminal psychology in general. He spoke about some of the different unsubs they had convicted and what lead to those convictions. He didn't give all the details but enough for everyone to be able to understand the cases. When the time came for the questions and Lila's lie about him came out, Lila's temper finally exploded.

“Oh, I see what this whole thing was. Let's make everyone humiliate Lila in the worst possible manner! Let's make Lila the bad guy!” As she shouted they kept an extra careful eye out for the Akuma they were sure would come. They were so focused on Lila however that they missed it taking over someone who had an even better reason to be angry, Jack.

Jack had been sitting quietly next to Mireille and had been content to simply watch everything but he had slowly been realising that there was more going on then what had met the eye. Although he was generally slow to anger he was still his father's son and the person that the whole day was aimed at taking down had been attacking his big sister. A big sister he thought the world of. A big sister who he had come to love wholeheartedly.

He hadn't realised that his temper had attracted a different villans attention but when he heard the voice inside his head he still tried to fight it, knowing that these were not his thoughts. Unfortunately, Hawkmoth knew just which buttons to push to make Jack give in. Due to nobody suspecting that Jack would be Akumatised, Candid was able to strike hard and fast. Where had once been a bubbly 9-year-old boy who loved his sister now stood an Akuma that they knew they would have to be careful facing. He wore what looked to be Captain America's costume, however, it was done in shades of blacks and blues mixed together as a [camouflage pattern](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwatertransferprinting.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F03%2FWTP-805-Neptune-Reduced.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwatertransferprinting.com%2Fshop%2Fhydrographic-film%2Fcamouflage%2Fwtp-805-kryptek-neptune-reduced%2F&docid=fNDi5fbfHVJ0uM&tbnid=-rrgDfXZqjNEXM%3A&vet=1&w=800&h=800&safe=off&client=firefox-b-d&bih=664&biw=1366&ved=2ahUKEwiZqPCQ5rHmAhUf6nMBHQ8cCccQxiAoAHoECAEQFw&iact=c&ictx=1) that made it hard to tell if he was solid or liquid or even if he was really there at all. His weapon was another nod to his favourite hero as it was in the form of a utility belt that he could draw pellets from, with each pellet having a different effect based on what he needed it to do.

The first they knew of him was when he made his first move which was to hit Lila with a pellet that contained a sort of truth serum. This made her start bragging about everything she had done. As the cameras were still on her from when she stood up after Rossi's talk, they decided to keep recording her but to not let anyone know as they didn't know if they would be able to use the knowledge in court. Even if it couldn't be used it would give them a surefire way to be able to pull her lies apart later.

As Lila was currently the centre of attention, Marinette signalled to the other's to get away and transform, then come back. She wouldn't be leaving to transform. Kitsune would make a mirage of ladybug purifying the Akuma and she would do so after everything had settled slightly. Chat could catch it in his bell to keep it contained for the meantime. She had let them know that she thought that the Akuma was in his belt so they had that going for them at least. The battle strategy that she had come up with on the fly didn't work out as she hoped though.

Candid hit several people with a different type of pellet that turned them into his own version of the Howling Commandos who worked together to stop people getting away. The Miraculous team had thankfully already transformed when Candid did this but it also meant they couldn't leave if they needed to. Marinette finally managed to get away and transform, using her Dragonbug form, and rejoin the group. She sighed softly then called for her team to listen carefully, as much as she didn't want to do it, she would have to use the dragons lightning body against Candid. She knew he would be healed when she used the miraculous cure but this was still her little brother and she hated hurting him. 

“Right, Viperion, be ready in case everything goes wrong. Kitsune see if you can get out to recharge if not just make sure no-one can see you as you drop the illusion. Akira I need you to be ready to use howl to distract him long enough for me to immobilise him. Tigris I'll need you to use your claws on his belt so that we can get rid of his belt, if the Akuma isn't in the belt, it'll be the shield so Chat be ready to use cataclysm on it. Honey, Oilarrak keep the commandos away from us as long as you can.”

Once she got nods from everyone, she motioned for them to move and they all sprang into action. A mild shock had Candid unable to move and a broken belt later the Akuma was free. She purified it quickly, used her cure and dashed away to detransform, making sure to run in from a different direction when she scoped Jack up into her arms. Soon they were surrounded by everyone wanting to make sure Jack was okay. Police had arrested Nekane, who had revealed her true name while under the effects of the pellets. 

She looked to Hotch and Quietly asked, “Did Commassaire Clement...?” She couldn't finish her question, nor did she have to as Hotch nodded. She looked down and swallowed. Gabriel Agreste had been caught as Hawkmoth while transformed and had been arrested. Nathalie hadn't had the chance to transform before she had been taken into custody as well. She sighed and moved away from her family, she had to go take possession of the two broaches and check for any other Miraculous related objects within the mansion. This was not going to be pleasant. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shinya Yamanaka  
> Yamanaka is a Japanese Nobel Prize-winning stem cell researcher. He received the prize in 2012 for his co-discovery that existing cells of the body can be converted to stem cells. He also received the 2013 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, worth $3 million.  
> Extract taken from:https://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/top-ten-greatest-scientists-alive-today  
> Diane Sawyer  
> Sawyer is an American journalist who was the first female 60 Minutes correspondent and most recently anchored for ABC World News until September 2014. She currently does high-profile interviews and specials for ABC News. Beginning her career at the local news station and then the White House press office in 1970 at a time where there were very few female journalists, she was considered a great pioneer for the women who followed in her footsteps. During her long-standing career, Sawyer has co-anchored Primetime Live, 20/20 as well as ABC’s morning show Good Morning America, which she held for much longer than anticipated due to her popularity in the position; one she also received an Emmy Award for in 2000. She also won an Emmy in 2007 for her reporting on ABC World News, along with numerous others like the Peabody Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award during her time on the show. Sawyer has also frequented the annual Forbes Magazine’s List of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women since 2004.  
> extract taken from here:https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/top-12-influential-journalists-today/
> 
> A little of my heratige pushed it's way forward for this choice! For future refrence I was born in South Africa but currently live in New Zealand  
> Michael Houlie, South Africa  
> Michael Houlie turned a ton of heads last year at the Youth Olympic Games. His unabashed front-half speed on the 100 breaststroke is something that few elite internationals (Adam Peaty comes to mind) have the turnover to put in. Houlie moved to the US and started at the University of Tennessee (Molly Hannis, PJ Stevens) in the spring semester. After just a few short months with his new team, his NCAA Championship results didn’t quite match the hype – he was 23rd in the 100 breaststroke and skipped his other individual, the 200 breaststroke. But, that wasn’t really a fair data point – we don’t know how good he is in short course, and it was such a short turnaround after arrival, all while adapting to college and a new country. This week, Houlie is the top seed in the 50 and the 12th seed in the 100. He’s the youngest #1 seed in the meet on the men’s side.  
> Extract taken from:https://swimswam.com/top-10-male-swimmers-to-watch-at-the-2019-world-university-games/
> 
> Steven Spielberg  
> Producer | Schindler's List  
> One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...  
> Extract from:https://www.imdb.com/list/ls056848274/


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last Chapter! I might do a couple of one-shots as sequels at a later stage but I have too many idea's as of right now. Thank you for sticking with me as I wrote my first Fanfic!

_ This was not going to be pleasant.  _

She was right when she had said it wasn't going to be pleasant. She'd spent the rest of the day collecting all the loaned out miraculi except the turtle and then she'd had to go to the Agreste Mansion to search it top to bottom for any other miraculi or Miraculous related artefacts. Commissaire Clement had been very understanding about the fact that they couldn't take any of it for evidence. He had also handed back the turtle miraculous without a protest.

The search had not been pleasant in the slightest. Four more maraculi were found but as they had obvious damage to them they had never been used, she'd have to heal them to free the Kwamis in them. The grimoire was reclaimed as were several scrolls and journals some were encoded some were not. The worst surprise by far, however, was finding Mrs Agreste in a cryotube near Hawkmoths old lair. Adrian had had to walk away for an hour to calm himself, though her clever kitty had made the excuse that he needed to talk to Adrian needed to be told.

It was decided she would be taken to the hospital and checked over by doctors. If they couldn't do anything for her, they would turn off the machines. Marinette could see how much this decision hurt Adrian but she couldn't help but feel proud of him. She also knew that this would just add to the number of counselling sessions he would be taking.

Once everything in the mansion had been cleared, she had raced home, stored everything away and headed to the police station to give her statement against Nakane. That had not been pleasant at all. By the time she had finished she felt raw from the many emotions that had spilt out that now that she had finally let herself feel again. Again it was Commissaire Clement, that had taken her statement, though her dad had stayed in the room with her and they had been very understanding whenever she had needed a break to compose herself. She had been grateful when she had finally been allowed to leave the station even though she knew that her part of making sure Nekane never got out of jail was just beginning. Her mother would also be spending time in jail. Although she had had nothing to do with Nekane's actions, she had helped to cover them up. As far as the law was concerned she was just as guilty as her daughter. 

She spent the rest of the weekend with her dad and little brother, finally able to relax and get to know them properly, rather than have to spend any time she had with them going over strategies. Morgan had gone over her battle strategy from the fight with Candid and pointed out she could have called on any of the members of the team to help. She had pointed out that had she done that, her identity would have been revealed which made Morgan smile and ruffle her hair, pleased that she had pointed it out. She had also spent time with JJ, Prentiss and Garcia, all three of them would be going home with the knowledge that they would be receiving a custom made MDC original, something that made all three of her new aunts very happy. Rossi had taken to teaching her the best ways to handle her fame once her brand had become known and she had had several games of chess against Reid.

It had been during a quiet moment when she had been dozing on the couch while cuddled up to Jack that Jack had broken her mellow mood completely. His face had been totally innocent but she could see the glint in his eye as he looked at her and she was immediately on guard for whatever would happen next. It hadn't helped though.

“So, Nette, when are you seeing your boyfriend again?” Her face had gone blood red and the little imp had had the nerve to laugh at her. The reaction from all the adults in the room had been instantaneous though.

“Boyfriend!”

“What boyfriend?”

“Who do I need to kill for stealing my niece's heart?”

Jack had started laughing at that stage so Hotch had turned to him and asked Jack if he'd been joking but Jack shook his head with a cheeky grin. He didn't say anything else though, his sister's dark look made sure of that! All the adults fixed the blushing teen with a look.

“Explain. Now.”

Marinette sighed and grumbled under her breath.

“I'm so going to get you back when you start dating Jack!” Jack just smiled so Marinette continued, “Ali had been sending me gifts anonymously since his last visit. At first, I thought it was Adrian but after he and I had our talk about our feelings and decided we were better off as friends, I started looking for more clues. I probably would have figured it out sooner but as you all know I had other things on my mind. Anyway, once I did I sent him an email and we started to talk to each other that way. When he came to visit the other day he asked me to be his girlfriend and I agreed. We wanted to see how things would go once things calmed down before we said anything to anyone though.” 

She fidgeted slightly towards the end of her explanation, making the adults smile.

“I'm glad you not committing to anything serious just yet but please let us know if it ever gets that way.” Sabine smiled as she spoke, then laughed as Marinette nodded rapidly.

The BAU team was flying home in the morning as they had been away for quite some time and Cruz was getting antsy about their absence. Apparently, cases had been pilling up, so they all settled back to just relax and even played a few games of UMS III where Marinette thrashed everyone. They had agreed that she could take the Monday morning off to see them off so they didn't say goodbye that night. Due to this, there were quite a few teary goodbyes when they were all at the airport. They all agreed she would visit over the upcoming Christmas holiday and they would work things out from there.

Walking into class after lunch was a weird experience for Marinette. The news of Jagged and Penny's wedding had been published in a magazine that morning, so her class had seen her all done up in the photo's. They also knew that she had designed the wedding outfits, and handmade them and they were all clamouring for the details. They seemed to want to push the matter of Nekane to one side, but as much as Marinette wished to she just couldn't. She ignored them for as long as she could by texting Ali and Adrian. One for support, the other to find out if he was at school or not. He wasn't so she volunteered to take note for him which he gratefully accepted.

Alya took the choice of if she wanted to deal with her class or not away from her by snatching her phone straight out of her hands.

“Gurl, I was talking to you!”

“No, Alya, you were talking at me and expecting me to listen. I don't see why I should.” Marinette said calmly, her tone still showing the pain she was feeling though. “Now, please hand my phone back to me, I was in the middle of a conversation of my own.” 

Alya flinched at Marinette's tone and the implications of her words but seemed determined to stand her ground. “Oh, yeah, with whom?”

“I don't see how that is any business of yours. Or of anyone currently present in this class if I'm honest.” This time the whole class flinched. “Now, hand me back my phone.”

“Not until you talk to us again.” Alya stubbornly declared.

“Mlle Césaire, give Mlle Dupain-Cheng her phone back right now! It is not your property and it is not your right to demand answers from her. You are already on thin ice young lady. Don't push your luck.” Marinette didn't know who this new teacher was but she liked her already! 

Alya handed Marinette her phone and sulkily went to sit down. Classes went smoothly not that there was no fear on Marinette's part of another Akuma attack. There was an interview set up for Ladybug to give an official press release scheduled for Saturday Morning. They had delayed letting the public know so that no-one would connect Hawkmoth to Gabriel Agreste. This wasn't done to protect Gabriel but to protect Adrian.

They would never release the details about who Hawkmoth and Mayura were if everything went to plan. Officially Gabriel and Nathalie had been arrested for drugging Mrs Agreste to the point that she is now in a coma and would have a closed trial. Similarly, Adrian was out of school due to having stumbled across his mother by accident somewhere in the mansion and had called the police to report his father. As far as Paris knew he was in intense councilling for the trauma of finding her. Her parents had also put their name down to adopt Adrian however it had been decided that he would live with his long term bodyguard Gustave Marius Beaufort.

By the time school had finished for the day Marinette had had it with her class. First, they had said she was their Everyday Ladybug, then when Nekane had joined she was a bully, now it seemed she was back to being the flavour of the month. She was over it. She didn't, however, think that they were worth getting angry over nor did she think she owed them anything. So she ignored them and stuck to her group of friends, which included Alix and Nathaniel of course. Adrian did the same when he came back too. None of the class was happy with this but anytime they tried to protest a teacher would step in. It took two weeks for the class to realise that things were not going to go back to the way things were before. As for Marinette's true friends? They enjoyed being able to relax knowing they did the right thing.

**Author's Note:**

> My thanks to A-Marlene-S for her feedback! 
> 
> If you wondering about Hotch's eyes, it will be explained later!


End file.
